"Khmer Genocide Survivor Can't Get on With His Life&quo

Sun, 2006-01-29 16:39  moderator

[b]"Khmer Genocide Survivor Can't Get on With His Life"[/b]

By Antonio Graceffo

"I risked my life to get here, and I have done nothing with my time in America." Says taxi driver, Matt Sindvith. "I have seen women who were raped, or people who survived the war in Bosnia or Sarajevo. They were able to put that behind them. But I cannot. And, until I do, I can't get on with my life."

The generation of Khmers, aged twenty-five and over, share a history of survival, loss, and suffering. But for many, the trauma was never dealt with. And the scars of a war, which ended more than two decades ago, are still open wounds, which prevent them from advancing.

Stuck in traffic on the Washington Beltway. I can only see the back of the driver's head, but the man in the photo on the license, dangling from the sun visor, looks like a Khmer.